Gas and Electricity: The Formation of Large Monopolies

The development of public lighting technology, networks, rate structures, and the distribution of resources resulted in ferocious competition among gas and electricity companies at the end of the 19th century. To access capital from Canadian entrepreneurs, companies joined forces and formed the large monopolies characteristic of the 20th century.

Founded in 1901, the Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company (MLHPC) grew out of the merger of the Royal Electric Company, the Montreal Gas Company, the Montreal & St. Lawrence Light & Power Company, and the Imperial Electric Light Company. Acquisition of the MLHPC by the provincial government in 1944 eventually led to the creation of Hydro-Québec.

Fig. 3 Directors of the Ottawa Electric Company and its associates. (Ottawa Hydro)

Another 1901 creation, the Charlottetown Light and Power Company, emerged from the Royal Electric Company's purchase of the Prince Edward Island Electric Company and the Charlottetown Gas Light Company. In 1906, the Ottawa Electric Company Limited and the Ottawa Gas Company merged to form Consolidated Light, Heat & Power Limited, which became Ottawa Hydro in 1915. In an effort to provide the people of Ontario with power at cost price, municipalities, business people and the industry put pressure on the provincial government, their efforts eventually leading to the creation, in 1906, of the Ontario Hydroelectric Commission, later to become Ontario Hydro.